"AH" == Andy Hefner ahefner@gmail.com writes:
AH> I think the underlying issue is that conses are printed via the lisp AH> printer, and it does not know to output the objects as presentations AH> so that you can invoke describe and/or the inspector on the individual AH> elements. The master plan (if there is one) involves writing a AH> portable replacement for the pretty printer that is aware of AH> presentations. I believe Gilbert Baumann has done a substantial AH> portion of this work, but the effort has stalled as he is busy AH> elsewhere.
AH> An alternate stopgap measure would be a presentation method for lists AH> which presents each element of the list contents itself rather than AH> relying on the lisp printer. Then you get roped into reimplementing AH> the formatting and printer controls yourself..
Yes, my describe-object for lists was intended to provide such a stopgap. Is it an acceptable stopgap? I realize that the formatting is pretty crummy (e.g., nested lists aren't indented, etc.), but do you think it could be extended? Any particular direction to go? Or is there a fatal shortsightedness somewhere? Suggestions for things that would make this more useful?
Thanks, R